


He's Out to Get You!

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 06:32:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11845920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: At the end of TSbyBS, Blair is offered a detective's badge as long as he gets firearms training. But the senior officer who agreed to that has died, and his successor hates Blair - nobody knows why.





	He's Out to Get You!

He's Out to Get You

by Bluewolf

In the aftermath of Blair's press conference, Commissioner Galbraith had readily okayed Simon's plea to allow Blair to join Major Crime if he took weapons training (and, of course, qualified) - he knew how much Major Crime owed to its observer's insights; indeed, he had allowed Blair's initial ninety-day 'ride along' status to continue for years because of that. He also knew that in the time Blair spent working with Major Crime - mostly with Detective Ellison - he had learned everything that the Police Academy could teach him. Indeed, he was of the opinion that Blair could lecture at the academy if he wanted to.

Unfortunately, on the day that Simon offered Blair a detective's badge, Galbraith suffered a massive heart attack and died before the ambulance, hastily summoned by his secretary, could get him to Cascade General.

Donald Hardwick, the assistant commissioner, taking over on a temporary basis until a new commissioner was appointed and hoping to be appointed as that new commissioner by being seen to make solid uncompromising decisions, made one such decision instantly. He knew that his dead boss had been willing to allow the academic fraud working with Major Crime to qualify as a detective on nothing more than weapons training, and had never understood why. Of course, Galbraith had never been a man to go strictly 'by the book' and had never let his assistant know the real reason Blair Sandburg was so important to Major Crime.

Hardwick couldn't actually reverse Galbraith's decision to allow Blair to go to the Academy, but he could reverse the 'firearms only' training, and, going by the book as he usually did, insist on the fraud doing the full course. He could also insist that Blair spend at least six months thereafter as a Patrol Officer, sitting (and of course having to pass) the detective's exam before transferring to Major Crime.

When Blair went to the Academy, however, and the staff there realized how much he already knew, it was decided to put him on the fast track course normally given to those cadets who had - for example - army training.

Hardwick was less than happy about the 'fast track' decision, but he had no authority over the Academy staff, and the principal made a point of letting the temporary commissioner know all of Blair's test results. There was nothing Hardwick could do at that point to put more obstacles in Blair's way.

He couldn't even directly influence which experienced cop Blair was partnered with once he started working in Patrol. He could - and did, the Friday before Sandburg was due to start working with Patrol - try to persuade Captain Palmer that since Sandburg had four years’ experience of riding with a Major Crime detective, he could be assigned to work with a cop who didn't have much experience (hoping that it might lead to an unnecessary shoot-out and Blair's serious injury or, better, death). However, knowing Hardwick's penchant for 'going by the book', Palmer decided that the temporary commissioner was testing him, and so insisted that the rookie, despite his years of experience as a ride along, had to get a properly experienced senior partner. In any case, as he pointed out, Officer Boyd was currently without a partner because his usual partner was on extended sick leave - and the prognosis wasn't good. He didn't say so, but Palmer didn't expect Donnie Grey would ever be able to return to police work.

Hardwick was far from pleased; but accepted that there was nothing more he could do just then. However, he decided, when he did get the Commissioner's job, he could surely then do something to destroy Sandburg... and Ellison... and possibly Banks... because he hated all three.

***

Two weeks later: Tuesday morning

It was quiet as Blair walked into the PD and crossed to the reception desk.  Sergeant Harrison, manning it, waved the pencil in his right hand briefly then dropped his hand to scribble something on the sheet of paper in front of him - the left hand was holding a phone to his ear. "Yes, sir, I've got that. I'll get a patrol car to your address as soon as possible." He hung up, and shook his head. "You know, some of those idiots... "

Blair grinned. "Think we have nothing better to do than chase a few seagulls off their lawns?"

"In this instance, having a word with their neighbors because their baby has been left in a stroller in the garden and is 'screaming its head off'. At least he phoned here direct rather than making an unnecessary emergency call to 911. You and Boyd like to chase it up?" He handed over the piece of paper with the address.

"Nice way to make friends with the neighbors," Blair commented, "although you could argue that if the kid is screaming that badly, it's being at least semi-neglected.

"Anyway, I just wanted to say, I scored a few tickets for the Jags game on Saturday, and if you want a couple of them, they're yours."

"How the heck did you manage that? I tried to get tickets yesterday, but they were sold out."

"It's handy knowing the right people." He took an envelope out of his pocket and gave it to Harrison. "Enjoy the game."

Harrison chuckled and said, "Thanks," but his next words were very quiet. "Blair - watch your back, and tell Ellison to watch his."

"Yes - but why?" He spoke as quietly as Harrison had.

"There's a whisper going around that Hardwick would like to see you and Ellison kicked out... and that as permanent commissioner he'd be grateful to anyone who helps him achieve that aim. At the moment his powers are limited - but... "

Their eyes met briefly before Harrison went on.

"Acting Commissioner Hardwick insists on going by the book, in the hope that that will show how efficient he is, and get him the position permanently.

"And heaven help Cascade PD if he does. Yes, going by the book is fine up to a point, but the criminals know what the book says. You have to think outside the box to defeat them.

"Commissioner Galbraith knew that. His death... " Then he seemed to give himself a mental shake. "Just why Hardwick is so hostile towards you, nobody knows." Harrison sighed. "In the past... In the past, Ellison wasn't well liked, he was pretty abrupt with everyone... but even when you were 'just' an observer, pretty well everyone liked you. And you've 'tamed' Ellison. Just thought I'd warn you."

"Thanks."

Blair grinned at Harrison, then crossed to the stairs. The Patrol office was on the first floor; faster to take the stairs than wait for an elevator - at this time of day these would all be sitting on the upper levels.

***

In the Patrol office he crossed to Al Boyd. "Morning, Al. Harrison gave me this when I was coming in - asked if we'd go and see the guy. Apparently there's a baby screaming its head off and being ignored by the parents - or at least the mother, because I suppose the father is at work."

"You went past his desk at the wrong moment?"

Blair grinned.

"Okay, it's not exactly standard procedure, but we can make that our first call of the day, then go on from there. It'll make a change from targeting speeding drivers."

Although their shift didn't officially start for another few minutes, they headed off immediately.

***

Both men were sure that by the time they reached the address Harrison had given Blair the baby would no longer be screaming - but it was. They went into the garden, crossed to the stroller... and gasped.

The infant's face had been badly scratched by something, and one scratch crossed an eye.

Blair pulled out his cell phone and called for an ambulance. The scratches, especially the one that crossed the eye, were certainly severe enough to need proper medical care. Then he carefully lifted the child and tried to soothe it. Meanwhile Boyd crossed to the house and banged on the door. There was no response, and he frowned. Had the parents gone out, early though it was, leaving the child? He moved to a window and looked in.

There was a woman lying on the floor, obviously unconscious.

He returned quickly to the door and tried it. It opened instantly, and he ran in. A quick check showed that the woman was alive and appeared to be uninjured. Right - now might her unconsciousness be the result of a stroke, or maybe a heart attack? She would certainly need to be taken to the hospital too.

He went back to the door. "Blair - call the ambulance service again. The mother's here, unconscious."

About five minutes later an ambulance pulled up. Blair went towards the gate to meet the EMTs - Boyd had gone back into the house.

"We got a call en route that there's an injured adult too?" the first EMT said as he joined Blair.

"Not actually injured," Blair said, "but unconscious. My partner thinks maybe a heart attack. If you bring her out, I'll hang on to the kid till you're ready to take it."

Everyone moved fast; they got the woman - the presumed mother - into the ambulance, one of the EMTs took charge of the child, and the ambulance drove off.

Boyd gave a relieved sigh. "Let's go and see the guy who phoned in the complaint." He checked the paper Harrison had given Blair and led the way to the house next door.

The occupant of that house - who looked to be at least seventy - was actually standing in his garden still looking - slightly open-mouthed - at the road the ambulance had taken.

Boyd crossed to him. "Mr. Jason?"

"Yes."

"You phoned in a complaint to the police this morning? About the baby?"

"Her father went off to work early - well, he always does - then Mrs. Albright put the stroller out about seven, and went back into the house. Susan was born about three months ago, and her mother's been doing that right from day one, any time it's a nice morning. Says the fresh air is good for her. But when Susan started screaming not long after that and her mother didn't seem bothered... I didn't really want to get Mrs. Albright into trouble, but it wasn't right to leave her daughter screaming like that... but then the ambulance took them both away... and Mrs. Albright was on a stretcher... "

"She was lying unconscious in the kitchen," Boyd said. "If you hadn't called us she mightn't have been found till her husband got home from work. By calling us, it's possible you've saved her life - though obviously we won't know what's wrong till the doctors check her. Do you know where her husband works?"

Jason shook his head. "Sorry. I know he works an early shift in one of the stores, but not which one - sometimes he's a little later getting home, but he's usually back mid-afternoon."

"Okay, and thanks. We'll leave a note for him, but we'll try to track him down as well."

Jason said, "And here I was, worrying slightly about being an interfering neighbor... "

"Sometimes an 'interfering neighbor' is being really helpful," Blair said with a grin.

"Though if I'd gone over rather than phoning the police... " Jason said. "It would have got Mrs. Albright help a little quicker."

"You don't want to worry about that, sir," Boyd said. "Just remember that you did get help to her hours before her husband could have found her."

They watched as Jason went into his house, then returned to the Albrights'.

Boyd headed for the kitchen. Following him, Blair paused beside the hall table - a phone and a book sat on it. "There could be something in their phone book to indicate where the husband works."

"Check it," Boyd said. He was already looking around the kitchen. Although there had been no sign of injury, and the EMTs agreed with his initial suspicion that it could have been a heart attack, Mrs. Albright might have eaten something that disagreed with her. But there was no sign of food lying on any work surface.

Meanwhile Blair was checking through the personalized phone book lying beside the phone. There was nothing to indicate a place of work, although one or two names had two phone numbers against them. On the other hand, there was just one number against the name 'Dad'.

Well, that would do. He dialed the number.

It was answered on the fifth ring. "Hardwick."

Hardwick? It couldn't be the temporary commissioner - could it? "Hello, sir. Police here. I found this number for 'Dad' in a phone book at Mr. and Mrs. Albright's. Would Mrs. Albright be your daughter?"

"Yes - but what the hell are the police doing at her house? Nosying into her phone book?"

"A neighbor called in a complaint about a neglected child screaming. When we got here we discovered that the baby had been badly clawed by something, and Mrs. Albright was lying unconscious on the kitchen floor. They've both been taken to Cascade General. The neighbor couldn't give us any information about where Mr. Albright works, the phone book didn't help - yours was the only number that seemed hopeful. If you can tell us where Mr. Albright works, we can contact him."

"Susan? Clawed by something - a cat?"

"Well, we don’t know it was a cat, sir, we just know her face was badly scratched. From what we could see, some of the scratches needed stitches." Interesting that the man's initial concern was the baby.

"And Denise?"

"We're not sure. The EMTs suspected a stroke or heart attack, and rushed them both away."

"I see... Jack works for Masters' Electronics."

"We'll get in touch right away, sir," Blair promised.

"Oh, one last thing. Your names?"

"Officers Boyd and Sandburg, sir."

"San- " The man's voice broke off mid-word. "I'll be in touch with the hospital myself. Just get Jack as fast as you can."

"Yes, sir." Almost before he had finished speaking, the connection was broken.

Blair hung up and then dialed 411. It took only a minute to get a number for Masters' Electronics, and he dialed it.

"Hello. Masters' Electronics, how can I help you?"

"Hello. I need a word with Jack Albright who I understand is a member of your staff."

"Can I tell him who's calling, sir?"

"I'm with the police."

He heard a faint gasp, then some moments later, "Albright."

"Officer Sandburg, sir." He went on to explain what had happened, finishing with, "We have to get back on patrol, but we can't leave the door unlocked - and with the lock you have, we'll need a key, but my partner hasn't said he's found a key, so can you tell us where we can get one? We'll take it to the hospital, leave it with your wife's things or give it to you or her father if we see either of you."

"If you don't you can give it to Dad at Central Precinct - he's the acting Commissioner _." God, so it_ was _that Hardwick_! "It should be in Denise's purse."

"Right, sir, but I hope we'll see you."

He hung up and went on into the kitchen. "The key should be in her purse."

There was no sign of a purse in the kitchen, but a quick check of the house revealed it in the living room; and inside it was the key.

Careful to leave everything as they had found it (apart from taking a minute to put the stroller inside the house) they locked the door and headed off to Cascade General.

***

By the time they got there, the baby had been checked, one or two stitches put in the worst scratches, and the doctors hopeful that the scratch over the eye, although it had nicked the eye, wouldn't cause a permanent problem. Mrs. Albright, however, was still being checked. Her father was in the waiting room, and had indicated that he would like a word with them if they came to the hospital.

Blair made a face as they turned towards the waiting room; Boyd grinned. "Not your favorite person?" he murmured.

"Well, I'm not _his_ favorite person, though I don't know why," Blair said. "Al, Harrison warned me that Hardwick has it in for me and Jim Ellison."

"Yeah, that seems to be a pretty open secret at the station, but you're right, nobody knows why."

They went into the waiting room, Blair deliberately dropping back to let Boyd enter first.

The man sitting there, staring at the door that led to the treatment rooms, had a look on his face that neither Blair nor Boyd could interpret.

"Mr. Hardwick," Boyd said quietly.

Hardwick jumped, and glanced round. "Ah - Officer Boyd?"

"Yes, sir. Mr. Albright is on his way, but we need to get back on patrol. He said to give you the house key if we were here before him." He held it out.

"Key?" Hardwick sounded slightly puzzled.

"We couldn't leave the house unlocked."

"Oh. No. But you could have pushed it through the letter box."

"True, sir, but we wanted to see how Mrs. Albright and Susan are."

"There's no word on Denise, but Susan will get home tomorrow - they want to keep her in tonight. They don't think the scratches will leave any scarring." He glanced at Blair, and frowned. "Is that blood on your uniform, Officer Sandburg?"

Blair glanced down at himself, and registered a small damp patch. "Oh. Yes, it could be."

"Susan was screaming," Boyd said. "The scratches... Officer Sandburg tried to comfort her before the ambulance arrived."

Once again neither man could interpret the look on Hardwick's face.

They were interrupted by the door opening and another man walking in. "Dad! Any word?"

Hardwick shook his head. "Not on Denise."

"Mr. Albright?" Boyd asked.

"Yes - you the cops who found Denise?"

Boyd nodded. "We've given Commissioner Hardwick the key, and now we need to get back to work. Hope your wife will be all right."

Blair nodded. "That goes for me, too."

They walked out, Albright's "Thank you!" following them.

As they got back to their car, Boyd said, "I'll take you home so you can change."

"Thanks." Then, as Boyd started the car, Blair added ruefully, "I hope Hardwick doesn't accuse me of trying to molest Susan just because I picked her up."

"We have Mr. Jason as an independent witness that you didn't." Knowing how the rumor mill had Blair at the top of Hardwick's shit list, Boyd didn't try to dismiss Blair's comment as paranoia.

***

As Boyd parked outside 852 Prospect, Blair said, "Come up with me and have a coffee, relax for ten minutes."

"We really should get out on the street - "

"I had to come home to change," Blair said. "And it would make sense for me to take a few minutes to soak the blood out of my jacket... Have to admit though I'm surprised Hardwick noticed it." He led the way into the building, adding, "He must have pretty good eyesight." _Oh, God!_ he thought. The last thing he wanted - needed - was for Hardwick to have any sentinel level abilities!

In the loft he put the coffee maker on, then stripped off his jacket and took it into the bathroom. He filled the sink with lukewarm water and draped the jacket over it so that the bit with the bloodstain dipped into it, allowing the blood to seep out of it. Then he went back out, checked the coffee and poured two mugs.

They didn't waste any time drinking the coffee; Blair rinsed out the mugs and went into his room for his spare jacket, grinning to himself when he realized that Boyd had taken note of the bed in the downstairs room - he knew one or two of the other cops suspected that he and Jim were shacked up together, and Boyd would now be able to say, any time he heard that particular rumor, that he'd been to the loft and knew that the two men had separate bedrooms.

Then they headed back to their car and their delayed patrol.

***

When they finally returned to the PD, it was to be told that Acting Commissioner Hardwick wanted to see them.

As they headed for Hardwick's office, Blair said, "I hope this is good news about his daughter."

At the door, they paused, looked at each other, then Boyd knocked.

"Come!"

Boyd opened the door and went in, Blair close behind him.

"Ah, gentlemen," Hardwick said.

"What's the word on Mrs. Albright, sir?" Boyd asked.

"She had - has - diabetes, undiagnosed until now," Hardwick said. "When she regained consciousness she admitted she was dieting - she'd put on a little weight while she was pregnant, and wanted to get back to her original weight - so she cut a lot of carbohydrate out of her diet. Not even Jack knew how little she was actually eating - and with the diabetes, this morning she lost consciousness from hypoglycemia. If she hadn't been found until Jack got home... I owe you... both." His voice went very quiet and they barely heard the last word.

"We checked on her, yes," Blair said, "but a neighbor had phoned in a report on Susan screaming and that was what we went to check - you owe him more than you owe us."

"You tried to comfort Susan," Hardwick said. "Tried to give her the comfort her mother couldn't. I... " He fell silent for a moment. "Officer Boyd - thank you. Officer Sandburg, if you would wait a moment... "

"I'll wait for you in the break room, Sandburg," Boyd said, and Blair nodded.

As Boyd closed the door, Hardwick said quietly, "This is going to sound as if it comes from a bad melodrama. It can't be any news to you that I've tried to make life difficult for you."

Blair nodded. "We didn't know why, sir, and could only assume it was because of what I said when I gave that press conference just before you took over as Acting Commissioner. I... didn't word it as well as I might have done."

"No. It goes back further than that. Brad Ventriss... "

Blair's jaw dropped. "Brad?... "

"He's my nephew. My sister's son." Hardwick fell silent for a moment. "I... As an officer of the law, I deplore what he did... but he's still my nephew, and, well... In one way I wish my brother-in-law had been able to get him out of the country, in another I know he had to be stopped. I hated you and Ellison... and Banks... for arresting him. I know, you were only doing your job - well, at the time it wasn't _your_ job, of course, you were simply riding with Ellison as an observer, even though your ride along pass was long expired."

"Commissioner Galbraith understood, sir. Because of my background in anthropology I sometimes saw links in evidence a little faster than the detectives; though they would have seen them eventually. My background made me look... well, outside the box, and that let me see the links maybe a day earlier than anyone else. That was why they started calling me a consultant, and why Galbraith approved my getting a badge."

"I see... But I couldn't see past Brad's arrest. Though I'd have hated whoever actually arrested him. But your actions today... I gather you concentrated on Susan while Officer Boyd looked for Denise?"

"I couldn't leave her just lying screaming in pain when a little human contact let her know that even if her mother wasn't there, someone was."

"And believe me, Sandburg, I'm grateful. And... my daughter and grand-daughter are more important to me than my nephew. As of now I'm stopping putting obstacles in the way of your career in the police force. I can't just transfer you instantly to Major Crime - even a Commissioner has some limits - but your move to there won't be much longer delayed."

Blair smiled. "Seriously, sir, even though it's just been a few days, I've been glad of the experience working with Patrol... and Officer Boyd has been a good partner; but Detective Ellison is my true partner, and I'll be happy to be working with him again."

Hardwick said slowly, "It was your press conference that was the lie, wasn't it. And Tom Galbraith knew that."

Blair nodded. "And you have better than average sight, sir, or you wouldn't have seen the blood on my jacket."

"Which is how I know... I just wasn't prepared to admit it. What do you do for Ellison, anyway?"

"Do you only have enhanced sight, sir?"

"Yes."

"Someone with only one enhanced sense usually doesn't have much of a problem. Although - do you sometimes find that if you're trying to see something at a distance, you lose track of time? You suddenly realize that you've been concentrating on it longer than you needed to?"

"It's happened once or twice," Hardwick admitted.

"Ellison has all five senses enhanced. That _can_ give him problems, because it means he has five times the chance of being caught out over-concentrating. Historically, in tribal cultures a sentinel had a companion to keep him from freezing like that. That's what I do. We're not joined at the hip - he's perfectly able to work on his own almost all of the time - he just has to be careful not to concentrate too much on one sense. But when I'm with him, he can concentrate just than fraction more. Because I can keep his senses just that extra bit balanced."

"I see... " Hardwick frowned thoughtfully, then went on. "You think I'm wrong, insisting on going by the book, don't you."

"There are times it's the right thing to do," Blair said. "But... " He hesitated, unsure of just how honest he dared be even in the face of this much friendlier Hardwick.

"Say it."

"When the criminals know what the book says... they can get around the law; sometimes you have to think away from the book to find the evidence that will catch them. Stop them escaping justice on a technicality."

"I always thought Tom was too much of an independent thinker," Hardwick admitted, "but I'm beginning to understand why. Cops need to be flexible - have to be able to be flexible. I can see that now."

"There are times to stick with the book," Blair repeated.

"But not all the time." Hardwick sighed. "I just hope... "

Blair looked at him, a question in his eyes.

"I just hope I've not destroyed my chance of being promoted to Commissioner by being too slow to realize that."

"You'll get an interview, surely?" Blair said. "So you say then that you believe a degree of flexible thought is vital to a cop's work."

Hardwick gave a wry snort. "I never thought I'd see the day when I looked for advice from someone in your position - a man who had every reason to want me to not get the permanent promotion."

"Now that I know why, I can understand," Blair said. "I take it you would prefer not to have your connection with Brad made public? All I need to say to anyone - even Jim Ellison - about your change of mind about me is that I just happened to be one of the cops who responded to a call about your daughter and grand-daughter. In other words, my good luck."

"And your humanity," Hardwick said. "All right, your partner said he would wait for you - you'd better let him know that everything is all right, but that you'll be getting your transfer to Major Crime just as soon as I can get it arranged. I'll have a word with Captain Palmer tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir - and I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know, in a day or two, how your daughter and grand-daughter are getting on - and I know Boyd would appreciate knowing, too."

"I'll do that."

"And good luck with getting the Commissioner's job permanently." Blair grinned and left Hardwick's office.

He headed for the break room, finding Boyd there unenthusiastically sipping a mug of coffee.

"Blair! Why did Hardwick - ?"

Blair grinned. "Let's just say I'm not heading his shit list any longer. But Al - he's letting me move to Major Crime as soon as he can arrange it. I know we've only been partnered for a few days, but I've enjoyed working with you - "

"As soon as he can arrange it? That's a definite change of heart!" Boyd cut in.

"We had quite an interesting conversation," Blair admitted. "Let's just say I have a far better understanding now of what motivates him... and he has a better understanding and appreciation of how Commissioner Galbraith thought and operated. This morning I thought it would be a disaster for the PD if Hardwick was approved as Commissioner; now, I hope he does get confirmed in the job.

"But Al - much as I want to get back to Major Crime, I don't want to leave you in the lurch - "

"Blair, we all know that Jim Ellison has been your partner for four years even though you weren't officially a cop, and that your posting to Patrol has just been a temporary glitch. You've made the best of being forced to work in Patrol, you've done a good job while you've been riding with me, but your place is beside Ellison, and I'm glad for your sake that Hardwick has seen sense."

"Thanks," Blair muttered. "But what'll you do now? You'll be left without a partner... "

"That'll be up to Captain Palmer," Boyd said. "Having to tackle problems is why he's paid the 'big bucks'. Anyway, our shift is over - let's head for home, and I'll probably see you in the morning?"

"I expect so. I'll certainly report in to Patrol until I hear otherwise."

Boyd rinsed his mug and together they headed down the stairs to their respective cars.


End file.
